1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the area of financial transactions, and pertains more particularly to a method and system for motivating consumers to pay bills electronically through a semi-automatic account acquisition system and service set up for authorizing users.
2. Discussion of the State of the Art
It is well known that there are many ways that a person may pay a bill. Historically and traditionally, for example, a company, having transacted with a consumer for a product or a service, will send a paper bill by mail to that consumer, detailing the transaction and the amount due, plus the due date, among possibly other detail. The consumer, hopefully, keeps track of the paper bill, and writes a check against his/her bank account before or on the due date, and sends the check by mail to the company. The company, receiving the check, cashes the check and updates the consumer's record with the company, deleting the obligation.
In the current art there are many other ways that the billing/payment process may be transacted. Companies now often send bills by email, and if the consumer agrees, only by email. Payment may be made by telephone or on-line, using, for example, a credit card. By telephone payments may be posted by direct transfer from a consumer's account to the company's account. A consumer may also leverage on-line bill payment offered by most banks and other financial institutions, simply by setting up a payee configuration, and entering periodically an amount and desired payment date. The bank then pays the bill for the consumer in any one of several ways, such as by machine-generated check, or by direct transfer. Similarly, companies may offer automated telephony bill pay systems for their own clients.
It is also well known that the paper bill, paper check by mail process is by far the most time-consuming and expensive process for financial institutions and consumers, and the process most prone to error. What is needed is a way to motivate more consumers to pay their bills electronically in a way that is least expensive and most convenient for all parties.